# What was your first computer/video game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 13, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544 "2018-08-13T19:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/41 "2018-08-14T14:24:27Z")
My roommate worked at Boeing and would bring home a large modem in a case. She would connect up with a work computer and we would play _Castle Adventure_. I believe it was that game or some other involving a dungeon that had a most interesting glitch: if you stepped on an arrow trap and the arrow missed you, there was a small chance that if you picked up the arrow and wielded it as if it were a sword, it would turn into a thousands-to-hit/thousands damage super weapon. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/42 "2018-08-14T14:31:50Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > So I had this long response about a Commodore 64 game that I played in like 2nd grade that I could only remember bits of because it’s been 30+ years. But then my phone deleted ilthe post and instead of writing it out again I decided to see if I could actually figure out what game it was. > > And holy shit I found it! I was _Gyruss!_ > > [Gyruss - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyruss) > > I played a lot of those old C64 games: _Heart of Africa, Montezuma’s Revenge, Save New York… Heart of Africa_ was my favorite and today I love adventure games like Tomb Raider. I wish I could play HoA again. _Montezuma’s Revenge_, albeit unfinished (there was supposed to be an ending to it, but never got made), was maybe my favorite C64 platformer. It was fast and amazingly responsive and, get this, programmed by a 16-year-old. I know those were the days where a single person could and would write games, and that it wasn’t necessarily terribly unusual for a teenager to be that person, but I’m still amazed, as that game always felt ahead of its time to me. The graphics may be a bit primitive and it had no background music, but it just played _great_. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/43 "2018-08-14T14:43:17Z")
Like others, it was the Atari home version of Pong. They even have a [picture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong#/media/File:TeleGames-Atari-Pong.png) of the machine on Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/44 "2018-08-14T14:59:53Z")
Tic-tac-toe on what I think was a PDP-8. Then Star Trek on a PDP-11, but it was on paper. After that, within a short time frame I played Mugwump from PPC on an IMSAI 8080 machine, Star Trek on a Xerox 360 clone, and the original Pong game which oddly I hadn’t run across up till then. Can’t recall what arcade games I played before then that could be called computer/video games. ETA: years before then I played an electronic tic-tac-toe game at the Franklin Institute. Can’t say if there was something we would consider a computer driving that. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/45 "2018-08-14T16:09:12Z")
My first games were on a Radio Shack console called [Electronic TV Scoreboard](https://www.pcauthority.com.au/gallery/top-15-obscure-video-game-consoles-for-collectors-271730/page5). My parents got it for my older sister and I for Christmas probably when I was 6 or so. My first PC game I probably played (if you don’t count the LOGO programming language as a game) was most likely the original Oregon Trail for Apple II. And I don’t mean the one most people are familar with that used VGA graphics and sprites. I mean the raw raster graphic version where when you went hunting you pressed the space bar and five bullets shot out and slowly creeped up the screen from the bottom in a very slow FPS animation while an equally slow raster’ed deer would go from right to left across the screen at the same frame rate and you hoped you hit it somewhere. The first non-educational game I probably played was Infocom’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” on a friend’s PC. The first non-educational I owned and played on my own PC was probably Interplay’s “Wasteland”. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/46 "2018-08-14T16:18:21Z")
At college in the early 80s I played a version of the classic Star Trek game on the primitive network ([this sort of thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(1971_video_game))). There was at the same time a [Roguelike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike) and a local project by two students called Binzer, a humorous adventure game where you had to solve a variety of puzzles and mini-games or wind up on the dreaded LAST TEN LOSERS list. All of these used keyboard characters for graphics. The first actual game I can recall having on floppy disk for a desktop was Lode Runner. The first commercial game I bought was [Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Empire). These things were not very rewarding,but we could see the potential of the medium. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/47 "2018-08-14T16:36:38Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > At college in the early 80s I played a version of the classic Star Trek game on the primitive network ([this sort of thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(1971_video_game))). I remember that game. My father used to work in the satellite industry so his work had tons of computers. I’d go to work with him every so often and played that game all day long. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/48 "2018-08-14T16:43:33Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > [Ti-99/4a](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_TI-99/4A) was the first thing we had with a keyboard. We also had a sears brand Atari 2600. But I can’t remember which we had first. hunt the whumpus ! ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/49 "2018-08-14T16:56:02Z")
We had an Atari, with Pong, when I was about 4, in 1979. That was replaced by a Spectrum ZX81 (with a 16k Rampack!) that I vaguely remember playing Frogger on. That machine was replaced in 1986 by my Amstrad CPC6128, which I had for years (and still regularly play ATF on an emulator on) - the first game we had for that was [Roland In Time](http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Roland_in_Time), which came with it, and is the earliest game I actually have decent memories of. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/50 "2018-08-14T16:58:28Z")
One of our neighbor’s kids, who was the same age as my older brother, won a Kellogg’s contest for drawing Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Yes, he was a seriously good artist, went on to get an advanced art degree. Anyway, the prize was the Sears knock-off Atari 2600 system, and we went over to play Pong on the first day it came. That was fun. It was either that, or [“Adventureland”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventureland_(video_game)) on our Commodore VIC-20. I can’t remember which came first. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/51 "2018-08-14T18:51:19Z")
I played the original Pac-man arcade game. I briefly played the Atari 2600. I played Pong. The original Wolfenstein was the first computer game I played. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/52 "2018-08-14T18:59:07Z")
Telstar (game console); the very one [pictured](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Ctelstar.jpg)in the [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar_(game_console)). Pong, Handball and Hockey. I believe 2 paddle sizes and 2 speeds. Play on TV. This was around Christmas 1976 or 1977. In 1982 I got as a combined Birthday & Christmas gift the TI-99/4A computer. This 16k Texas Instruments marvel was about $200 at the time, so the biggest gift of my childhood by far. But I taught myself to program on it. So it was probably one of the best investments my parents ever made as I ended up programming for a living eventually. It had color and sound. It took cartridges and could store data on tape or diskette. Both additional add-ons. I had a cheap tape recorder that was compatible. It was a fun little system and had a perfect learn to program Basic manual. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/53 "2018-08-14T19:53:43Z")
My first computer was a Commodore Vic20 but I don’t remember what games I had for it. I got serious about games when I upgraded to the Commodore 64. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/54 "2018-08-14T20:02:49Z")
My first video game was not a commercial product. I played it in the early 70s, although it probably went back farther than that. There was an IBM 1620 computer at UC Berkeley that had an oscilloscope as an output device. Someone had written a game called “Snakey” that involved two “snakes,” each made up of a line of dots, that moved around the screen under the control of console sense switches. Each player would try to move his snake so that its head would go through the middle of the other player’s snake. Each time this happened, one piece of the latter player’s snake would lose one of its dots, which would be left in place on the screen. The object was to cut your opponent’s snake down to nothing. One clever feature was that, not only would the snakes bounce off the “walls” of the screen, but they’d also bounce off of pieces of snake that had been left behind. The first commercial video game I played was Space Wars, the Cinematronics arcade game. I think it was 1977, when the game first came out. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/55 "2018-08-14T20:12:20Z")
If [this electronic quarterback game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_electronic_game#/media/File:Coleco_Electronic_Quarterback.jpg) counts as a video game, then it was my first. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/56 "2018-08-14T20:23:50Z")
The first video game I played was Pole Position on the Atari 2600. The first computer game I ever played was a text adventure game on a Tandy TRS-80. It believe it was Zork. It definitely was a text game exploring a cave system; there a dozens of them so I’m not sure exactly which one it was. Are text games still even a thing? Does anyone still make them? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/57 "2018-08-14T20:32:50Z")
“Dungeon” on the Commodore PET. I LOVED that game. Hours and hours spent playing. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/58 "2018-08-14T20:43:50Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > If [this electronic quarterback game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_electronic_game#/media/File:Coleco_Electronic_Quarterback.jpg) counts as a video game, then it was my first. My grandparents were old-school, so electronic football was the closest thing to a kids game they had. They had the [Mattel version](https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-s3.si.com%2Fs3fs-public%2Fsi%2Fmultimedia%2Fphoto_gallery%2F0808%2Fmattel.madden%2Fimages%2Fmattel-1977.jpg&w=800&q=85). The sound effects are forever stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/59 "2018-08-14T20:52:54Z")
Pong was likely the first video game I ever played in an arcade, although I would watch my dad “play” football on the computer in his office (all in printed text), which would have been around 1974. The first video game I ever played at home was courtesy of a Coleco Telstar Arcade during Christmas of '76. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544/60 "2018-08-14T21:08:35Z")
Combat on the 2600. I could not have been older than around 5, though, and only have some vague memories of it. The parents sold the unit not long after. My first computer was a VIC-20, and the first game I remember was Chicken Little (actually called The Sky is Falling from searching around). It used the paddle controllers (a wheel, not a joystick). Maybe 6 at the time. Mostly I didn’t do much gaming until the Commodore 64, though. Lots of games for that, though I remember the Summer/Winter/California Games series from Epyx the most. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-computer-video-game/819544.md?page=4)